


I Told You So

by TheDarkNightsRun, ZuzuZuluMakHar



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Haru's parents are literally the best, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Mentions of Sex, Nagisa is a wise little shit, Polyamory, ass grab, crying gaybies, haru is dead inside, heck yeah sassy Rin, japan is kind of racist, money bet on Haru, patient makoto is patient, post Eternal Summer, snuggles, they're in college, this is my first, very very slight racist remarks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-10 22:36:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4410422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkNightsRun/pseuds/TheDarkNightsRun, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZuzuZuluMakHar/pseuds/ZuzuZuluMakHar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto and Rin make a bet on who could find out about Haru's family first. Makoto wins, for once, and eventually meets Haru's mysterious parents, only resulting in almost having a heart attack from the long stream of surprises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Told You So

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ZuzuZuluMakHar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZuzuZuluMakHar/gifts).



> Alright, so this is my first fanfiction on here and my first Free! fanfiction. Kate (ZuzuZuluMakHar) came to me with this idea and I thought it was so completely ludicrous that I just had to go through with it. So just know this is Kate's fault and I have absolutely no idea if this is how skin works. I don't care if it isn't, but I do apologise if anyone is at all offended by this. Anywhore, please enjoy and remember to blame Kate.

Makoto rarely got ‘I told you so’ moments when it came to Rin. Usually Rin knew _exactly_ what Haru was thinking and would just give Makoto a sharky bitch face whenever he said otherwise. Then when it turned out Rin was right, he would go to Makoto, sway his ass around, and chant, “I told you so, I told you so.”

So then they started to make bets on who could guess something correctly about their favourite mysterious Haruka. And that was why Makoto was currently thinking of a way to ask about Haru’s family. Or more, _lack_ of family, as Nagisa thought. No one was really sure on that subject.

“Hey, Haru…?” He asked, putting his magazine down and looking at the blue eyed boy’s head in his lap.

Haru grunted in response, and continued to look at pictures of the ocean on his phone.

Makoto hesitated a moment before murmuring, “Why haven’t I met your family yet?”

There was a dead silence. Haru’s thumb stopped scrolling and he seemed to have gone into some sort of shock. He suddenly stood up and walked out of the room, not saying a word, looking straight ahead.

It seemed Makoto would have to wait for another day to ask again.

…………

As the days drew on, Rei got increasingly more impatient with Makoto’s whining about Haru. Rei was about to with explode all of his frustration and Nagisa decided it was time for an intervention. It was kind of messing with their sex life.

“Hey, Makoto. It’s cha’ boy,” Nagisa said into his phone. He decided this was best done over the phone.

“...What do you want…?” Makoto’s voice crackled over.

Nagisa kicked some water up with his foot and watched Rei try, and fail miserably, to swim something other than the butterfly. “We need to talk about your obsession with Haru-chan’s family,” he stated simply.

Makoto huffed over the phone, “I’m not obsessed with his family. I’m just…. _curious_ …”

Nagisa raised an eyebrow at no one in particular. “Well I thought Rei was going to have an aneurysm or something last time we hung out, so I am going to say that’s false.”

They talked a bit more and in the end Nagisa convinced Makoto to wait a little longer before asking again. And that was why Makoto was watching Haru on an almost stalker level.

……………..

Makoto began to notice a few new things as he carefully watched Haru that week. One was completely by accident. He wasn’t looking for it in any way shape or form, but he wrote it down and hoped it would come up as important in the future.

He noticed Haru’s skin would gradually get darker over the course of a month, and then suddenly get lighter. As if Haru was shedding old skin like a snake. This had been going on since Makoto had met Haru as a child, and he always just pegged it as a tan the boy would get from being in his beloved water so much.

But then Makoto realised Haru would disappear the day before he came back and his skin was lighter. And he began to think differently.

He decided to call up Rin for a council meeting.

“What do you think this means, Rin?” Makoto asked, showing him some Before and After pictures he had secretly taken. He wasn’t a stalker, though.

Rin raised an eyebrow and looked concernedly at Makoto. “You’re completely mad. You know I was just fucking with you when I said we should put money on this, right?” Makoto rolled his eyes and pushed the pictures closer to Rin, who sighed and looked down. “It just looks like his tan faded,” Rin said after a moment.

“It just doesn’t make sense. Do you think he’s hiding something? Does it have to do with his family? What-” Makoto started to ramble but Rin cut him off.

“Why don’t you just meet his family to find out?” At this point, Rin was so done with Makoto’s shit. He had never been this frustrated with the green haired man since he said he had backstroke for days.

Makoto’s face visibly paled in the dim light of the bar they were in. “Y-you want me to… ask to meet his family? Again?”

Rin nodded, “That’s exactly what I want you to do.” He knew full well Makoto may not even survive asking Haru such a prying question twice.

………….

Makoto took another large swig from his water bottle and sat back in the sun. He knew he had to make his move soon, or else Haru’s post water bliss would fade and he wouldn’t be as susceptible to questions. Makoto looked over at his boyfriend, who was floating in the pool with his eyes closed.

It was almost time.

Makoto awkwardly cleared his throat and took the towel off of his head; this wasn’t going to be good.

“Hey, Haru?” He said.

Haru’s eyes opened slowly and he lifted his head, somehow continuing to float.

Makoto took that as acknowledgement and continued. “Can I meet your family?”

Haru’s gaze steeled and his eye’s narrowed on Makoto. He didn’t say anything, and Makoto was mildly terrified.

He continued anyway, “It’s just, you know my family really well, and we’ve been dating for a while now. So I want-”

“Why?” Haru cut him off. His voice was low, and slightly murderous.

Makoto was taken aback. “What?”

“Why do you want to meet my family?”

“I-I… Because I love you, and I feel like you don’t trust me since you’re hiding this from me…” Makoto stared at Haru’s passive face. He hadn’t meant to drop the L-bomb but it’s not like they haven’t said it before in the throws of passion.

The silence stretched impossibly long and Makoto was about to jump in the pool too and drown himself. Just before he did, however, Haru swam over to him and got out. He sat down next to Makoto and left his feet dangling in the water.

He sighed and looked up at the sky, then at Makoto. “I’m sorry,” He stated simply.

Makoto’s eyebrows scrunched, “For what?”

Haru looked into the water, his blue eyes reflecting the ripples the light breeze created. “You can meet my family, but they’re different.”

Makoto almost screamed in excitement, but the last part stopped him short. “How different?”

Haru’s gaze turned back to Makoto and he looked almost sad, “You’ll see.”

…………..

Okay, this was not what Makoto meant by meeting Haru’s family. They were calling them. Fucking calling Haruka’s parents. How the fuck was meeting your boyfriend’s parents for the first time by phone acceptable?

The call actually wasn’t that bad, they were nice and seemed to like Makoto, but still. He wanted a real meeting.

“Oh Makoto-kun, honey, you _have got_ to come with Haruka this christmas to visit us!” Haru’s dad exclaimed across the receiver.

That’s more like what Makoto wanted. “I’d love to sir. If Haru is okay with it…?” He looked over to Haru, who was sitting next to him on their bed with a dead look in his eyes.

Haru hesitated a moment, and then shrugged. His emotionless eyes focused in the floor.

“Did he say yes? He’s not much one for words,” Haru’s other dad said.

Makoto nodded before remembering he wasn’t actually looking at them. Again, what the fuck. “He said sure. I’m excited to finally get to meet you.”

“Us too, son. Haruka only mentioned you two had _finally_ gotten together a few months ago, and we’ve been _dying_ to see you,” One of the other men said.

Makoto agreed and they ended the call after that. It was the middle of summer and Christmas was a long way off, but that did stop him from being excited and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t ravish Haru in every way he knew he loved that night.

……………….

Makoto’s excitement didn’t fade in the slightest the next three months, and neither did his smugness towards Rin. It was nice to finally be able to do the ‘I told you so’ dance, and the money he got wasn’t too bad either.

Now that it was _finally_ the Christmas season and snow was covering the ground, Makoto had to occasionally stop Haru from jumping into the below freezing ocean. Which is exactly what he was doing right now.

“Haru _no_ , you’ll get hypothermia,” Makoto groaned as he tugged on his boyfriend’s jacket.

“Water,” Haru moaned, his eyes trained on the rolling waves.

“No, Haru, we’re going to be late for our train. C’mon, don’t your parents have an indoor pool?” Makoto gave one last tug, and Haru relented. They fell back in step together with Haru casting longing glances and the salty water. The indoor pool comment worked somewhat.

The ride was quick and a little aggravating because of the American Christmas carols, that literally no one understood the point of, blasting through the train car.

Haru didn’t show it, but Makoto could tell he was nervous. The other’s usually passive and dead expression not as dead and not as passive. Makoto reached his hand over and grabbed Haru’s, lacing their fingers together and holding tight.  

That’s how they show up at Haru’s parents house, with their bags in their unoccupied hands.

Haru turned to Makoto just before they rang the bell, his eyes wide and anxious. Makoto started to get worried. “I told you my family was different, right?”

Makoto nodded. His eyebrows scrunching.

“Good. Don’t say anything about it and don’t mention how I look,” Haru rang the bell and turned to stare at the door.

“Don’t say anything about what?” Makoto asked, but before he could answer, the door opened and his jaw dropped almost straight through the earth to the US.

In the doorway stood two big men with dark skin and a small child with the same dark skin.

“Hello!” One of them greeted.

“Hi dad,” Haru muttered and accepted the hugs from the men.

“ _Oh_ , Haruka, you sure _did_ choose a hot one,” the man who wasn’t hugging Haru said and grabbed Makoto for a tight hug. He pulled away and said, “My name’s Brad, Makoto-kun.”

Makoto bowed at much as he could and was pulled into another tight hug by Haru’s other dad, who introduced himself as Chad. “It’s good to finally meet you, sirs,” Makoto said and bowed again at both.

The two man laughed and half bowed back. Brad turned to the small child waiting in the doorway, shivering, “Oh, Ash, why don’t you come say hi to your brother’s boyfriend.”

Chad walked over and picked Ash up, bring the child over to Makoto. “Say hi, Ash,” He instructed, lifting Ash’s arm in a waving formation.

Makoto nodded at the thing and looked over at Haru, who was looking at the ground.

Brad noticed. “Let’s get you boys inside and some warm food in your belly? Sally just finished making dinner,” he said and beckoned everyone inside.

“Who’s Sally?” Makoto whispered to Haru as they took their shoes off.

Haru looked at Makoto and was silent for a moment, as if deciding whether this information was important. It must’ve deemed worthy because Haru muttered a quick, “My mom,” before taking off his jacket and heading further into the house.

“What the fuck?” Makoto muttered and followed Haru.

…………………

If Makoto could get anymore surprised, he would have a heart attack. Sally was a sweet middle-aged woman with a lighter shade of skin than Brad and Chad, but still darker than Haru.

Ash ran off to somewhere else in the house and Brad walked up to Sally to give her a kiss, followed by Chad, and then Haru, who just gave her an awkward hug.

“Haruka, you’ve gotten so much more muscley since last Christmas. Are you still swimming?” Sally asked, grabbing Haru’s biceps and squeezing.

Haru nodded and looked over at Makoto, who was standing stiffly off to the side. “Hi,” Makoto bowed and pursed his lips a little. This was so weird.

“Don’t give me all that _formal_ stuff, you’re my new son, it’s not necessary,” Sally waved a little and gave Makoto a hug, feeling his arms and back, her hand dipping down to his ass and patting it. Makoto jumped and laughed uncomfortably. Sally pulled back, winking at him and stage whispering, “I see why my son loves you.”

Haru put his head in his hands and walked over to face the wall in shame. Makoto forced a laugh and rubbed the back of his red neck. His boyfriend was showing more emotion than usual.

Chad poked his head in, “I put your bags up in the spare room for you, and the table’s ready, so we can eat.”

“Perfect,” Sally exclaimed and dashed out of the kitchen.

Haru looked up at Makoto, his expression more dead and hopeless than it has ever been before. “This is why you’ve never met them before, and I understand if you want to leave immediately.”

Makoto chuckled and pecked Haru’s lips, “I’m not going _anywhere_ , love.”

…………………

Dinner was… weird, to say the least. Ash didn’t say a word and Makoto still had no idea whether the thing was a male or female, but the child seemed to love Haru, so Makoto wasn’t going to say anything.

The food was good, and warm compared to the frigid weather outside. Brad, Chad, and Sally asked Makoto and Haru questions about their university life and at one point about the depth of their relationship, to which Haru quickly answered with a, “We love each other.” That warmed Makoto’s heart more than the hot chocolate he was downing like an alcoholic after prohibition ended.

Then suddenly Chad asked a question that made Haru drop one of his chopsticks, “So you’re bleaching again?”

The atmosphere around the table became stiff and Makoto had the sudden need to run, but his curiosity of the question made him stay. Curiosity killed the cat.

“Yes…” Haru murmured after a tense silence. He picked his fallen chopstick back up and continued shoving mackerel in his mouth.

Sally sighed, “Don’t start this again, Chad. You _know_ how Japan is towards people like us.”

Brad put his hand on Chad’s and looked at him, they had a silent argument that ended with Chad dropping the subject.

Again, what the fuck?

………………..

That night, as they lay in the queen sized bed together, Makoto still couldn’t shake Chad’s comment from his mind. Everything that had happened today was a whole new side of his Haru that he didn’t even know existed. It was one big mind fuck.

Makoto turned over to face Haru and found the other still awake, staring at the painting of the ocean on the opposite wall.

“Haru…” Makoto said before he could stop himself.

Haru looked over, his eyes watery with unshed tears.

Makoto sighed and put his arm around Haru, pulling him closer and rubbing their noses together. “What did Chad mean about the bleaching thing?”

Haru’s mouth twitched ever so slightly, and a single tear fell from his eye, landing on the mattress below. He was silent for a moment, then swallowed before speaking, “M-my family, is different. Sally and Brad are my birth parents, and Chad and Sally are Ashton’s.” Makoto noted the masculine name. “When they sent me to Iwatobi to live with my aunt for my education before I met you, I got bullied. A lot. It got to the point where my aunt was afraid to let me leave the house.” Haru swallowed again and looked up at the ceiling. Makoto wanted to grab his face and kiss him until neither of them could breath, but he let the other talk. “Then, when I was in the hospital after a particularly bad beating, the doctor said there was a way to change my skin colour. My parents were against it, but legally, my aunt was my guardian and got to make the call, so we went for it. I’ve been doing it since I was ten.” Makoto thought of the pictures he’d taken and everything clicked together.

Oh.

_Oh_.

Haru fell silent and his shoulders shook as he cried. Makoto put his hand on Haru’s cheek and turned his head towards himself. “Haru,” he murmured, “I love you no matter what you look like.” He pressed their lips together.

Later, after a quiet round of surprisingly intense sex, they minded the other sleeping people in the house, Haru was sleeping soundly on Makoto’s chest.

Makoto couldn’t sleep after what Haru had told him, so he opted instead for texting Rin. This was probably the the biggest ‘I told you so’ in the history of Haru ‘I told you so’s’.

“I fucking told you so,” was all he typed, before turning off his phone and snuggling Haru closer to himself.

“I fucking _told_ him so,” he whispered to the quiet room before miraculously dozing off.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Lol, sorry.


End file.
